After putting on a pulsating stretch battle on a rainy Saturday afternoon at Santa Anita, Gormley (Malibu Moon) just got the better of American Anthem (Bodemeister) in a fantastic renewal of the GIII Sham S.
American Anthem, just up by a neck in his debut sprinting at Del Mar in early December, was ridden for speed from his inside draw and held a narrow advantage heading into the clubhouse turn. Victor Espinoza, aboard last term's GI FrontRunner S. winner Gormley, never let the Bob Baffert runner out of his sight and tracked intently through an opening quarter in :22.54 over the sloppy going. Gormley drew alongside following a half mile in :45.46 entering the far turn and the stage was set. The Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Moss colorbearer looked to be going the better of the two as they straightened for home, but American Anthem never said die from along the inside, and fought back gamely. Gormley wasn't to be denied, however, and got his head down on the line first.
“That was a great race,” winning trainer John Shirreffs said. “He's still young. You never know what they're going to do so it's always interesting. We're very proud of him.”
Gormley opened his account at first asking with a sharp win going 6 1/2 furlongs at Del Mar Sept. 4. He handled the stretch to two turns with aplomb with a powerful wire-to-wire score in the FrontRunner, but failed to build off that effort in the big one, reporting home a well-beaten seventh in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita most recently Nov. 5.
“He's quick,” Shirreffs commented. “He starts quick, he gets away quickly. But then he checks himself as he gets into the race and he relaxes. It was great to see him pick it back up again and get it done. Chantal [jockey, Sutherland who has been working him in the mornings] has given me a lot of confidence in how he's doing. She's a rider who really understands what is going on underneath her and is very expressive about it, so she's been a big help.”
Winning owner Jerry Moss added, “This type of thing never gets old. He's got a lot of heart and I know he'll go further than this. John's doing all the right things as usual. This was a beautiful horse race and the fans got a thriller. No idea where we'll run next.”
Pedigree Notes:
Gormley is the first foal out of Race to Urga, who made all eight career starts on lawn, including the 2012 Wait a While S. at Gulfstream for Castleton Lyons and trainer Christophe Clement. His second dam Miss Mambo was third in the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches, while his fourth dam was champion grass mare Estrapade (Vaguely Noble), a half to Horse of the Year Criminal type. Race to Urga has a 2-year-old colt by Smart Strike and a yearling colt by Gio Ponti. She was bred back to Justin Phillip.
Saturday, Santa Anita
SHAM S.-GIII, $100,690, SA, 1-7, 3yo, 1m, 1:35.89, sy.
1--GORMLEY, 124, c, 3, by Malibu Moon
1st Dam: Race to Urga (SW, $182,816), by Bernstein
2nd Dam: Miss Mambo, by Kingmambo
3rd Dam: Troika, by Strawberry Road (Aus)
($150,000 RNA Ylg '15 KEESEP). O-Mr. & Mrs. Jerome Moss;
B-Castleton Lyons & Kilboy Estate (KY); T-John A. Shirreffs;
J-Victor Espinoza. $60,000. Lifetime Record: 4-3-0-0, $296,000.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick
Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*.[bullet ad=”paramount-congratulations”][bullet ad=”mckathan-brothers-training-grad”][bullet ad=”kbif-g2g3″]2–American Anthem, 119, c, 3, Bodemeister–Indy's Windy, by
A.P. Indy. ($180,000 Ylg '15 KEESEP; $435,000 2yo '16
OBSMAR). O-Winstar Farm, LLC, S F Bloodstock LLC & China
Horse Club; B-WinStar Farm, LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert. $20,000.[bullet ad=”winstar-bred”][bullet ad=”selectsales-shell”][bullet ad=”hoppel-trainedandsold”]3–Big Hit, 119, c, 3, Super Saver–Singavictorysong, by Hard
Spun. ($360,000 Ylg '15 KEESEP). O-Gary & Mary West;
B-Hargus & Sandra Sexton & Silver Fern Farm, LLC (KY); T-Philip
D'Amato. $12,000.
Margins: HD, 13, 2 1/4. Odds: 1.60, 1.00, 11.20.[bullet ad=”warrendale-sold-congratulations-to-all-the-connections”]Also Ran: Bird Is the Word, Term of Art, Colonel Samsen, Blabimir. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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